443 civil society organisations in Burma have written to António Guterres, the UN Secretary General, calling on him to personally spearhead the United Nations response to the Covid-19 pandemic in Burma, and work to end military hostilities against the population.
Following the coup, António Guterres has made statements of concern, and there have been several meetings of the UN Security Council, but no practical action has been taken.
Since the coup:
More than a thousand people have been killed
More than quarter of a million people forced to flee their homes
More than 7,000 people have been arrested
Now Burma is in the grip of a third wave of Covid, which has been killing thousands of people a day. The military is using it as an opportunity to target opponents and try to force people to accept its rule, restricting access to oxygen and other assistance.
It is literally António Guterres’ job to act in response to a crisis like this. He should be mobilising world leaders to support his diplomatic efforts to ensure emergency aid reaches people in Burma without going through the military, and pressuring the military to declare a ceasefire.
We need to persuade António Guterres to act. Only the UN Secretary General has the authority to get world leaders behind him in applying diplomatic pressure for action. People are dying every day. It’s time to act.
